Christmas Eve on Sesame Street: The Movie We Need Right Now
To borrow a phrase from that gifted poet, Jason Isbell, this year’s been a sonofabitch for nearly everyone I know.
It’s been a struggle to get into the Christmas spirit, but I’m doing all the things to make sure my kids have the best time possible. We’ve visited Santa. We took in the Lighted Boat Parade in the Harbor. We put up the tree, the ornaments, the outdoor decorations (although RIP to our inflatable snowman, who made it just 3 nights before the landscaping crew destroyed him during their fall clean-up).
Still, it feels forced and hollow. It feels like I’m fiddling while Rome burns.
This year more than ever, my favorite Christmas movie has been balm for my soul. It’s Christmas Eve on Sesame Street—a very grainy, very low-tech, very 1970s masterpiece—and it’s exactly what so many of us need right now.
(For fellow parents of a toddler who's obsessed with Elmo and need a break from that little red monster, know that this is a 100% Elmo-free film. You’re welcome.)
Quick Recap of the Movie
If you’ve never seen this truly exceptional piece of American television, know that Christmas Eve on Sesame Street:
- runs about 60 minutes, the length of a classic Sesame Street episode.
- starts with a fun montage of Sesame Street characters and their friends ice skating together. One heartwarming segment features a little girl teaching Big Bird how to skate. She must be a good teacher, because he goes from inept to Nancy Kerrigan in less than a minute.
- has a running bit about Cookie Monster trying to write a letter to Santa, but failing because he eats his pencil, his typewriter, and his phone in the process.
- has another running bit where Grover and Kermit the Frog ask a series of kids how they think Santa Claus gets down tiny chimneys (more on the reason for this to follow).
- features spectacular late-70s fashion and décor.
- adds bangers like "I Hate Christmas" to the holiday music canon.
There are two storylines in the movie that have always hit me in the feels. This year, they felt even more poignant.
The Ernie, Bert, and Mr. Hooper Storyline
Ernie and Bert are shopping for Christmas gifts for each other. Ernie visits Mr. Hooper’s store and sees an empty cigar box hanging behind the cash register. He decides that’d be the perfect container for Bert’s beloved paper clip collection. But he has no money, so he gives Mr. Hooper his own beloved Rubber Duckie as payment. Mr. Hooper pointedly asks him, “Are you sure?” Ernie gives him an emotional “Yes,” before awkwardly running into Bert on the way out.
Bert then walks up to Mr. Hooper’s counter and spots a soapdish that he thinks will be a perfect home for Rubber Duckie to keep him from falling into the water during baths. Like Ernie, he has no money (honestly, does anyone on Sesame Street?), so he gives Mr. Hooper his paper clip collection as payment. Mr. Hooper again pointedly asks, “Are you sure?” Bert mumbles something about wanting to come back to visit the collection sometime before hanging his head and walking out.
Fast forward a few segments, and Ernie and Bert are in their apartment exchanging their gifts. Bert opens his cigar box, and Ernie excitedly tells him it’s to hold his paper clip collection. Bert doesn’t respond, staring off screen sadly as appropriately dramatic strings play in the background. Then he snaps out of it and implores Ernie to open his gift.
Ernie opens the soapdish, and Bert says it’s for Rubber Duckie. Now it’s Ernie’s turn to stare off dramatically. But it only lasts for a moment, because there’s a knock at the door.
It's Mr. Hooper, and he’s carrying two gifts. He gives one to Bert and the other to Ernie. Bert opens his and finds his paper clip collection. Ernie starts to ask Mr. Hooper how he ended up with it, and Mr. Hooper responds “Nevermind, Ernie, let’s open up your present.”
Ernie opens his and finds his Rubber Duckie. Bert starts to ask Mr. Hooper how he got Rubber Duckie, but Ernie interrupts him.
As Mr. Hooper moves to leave, Bert pulls Ernie aside and says, “We didn’t get Mr. Hooper anything.” Overhearing them, Mr. Hooper says, “You’re wrong, boys. I got the best Christmas present gift ever: I got to see that everyone got exactly what they wanted for Christmas.”
He wishes them Merry Christmas, and Bert and Ernie launch into a sweet and appropriately off-key rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
This part of the movie gets me farklempt every time I watch it, but this year, it prompted actual tears.
Maybe it’s because I wish this sort of kindness and selflessness—caring about someone else so much that you’d swap your most treasured possession to protect theirs—wasn’t a punchline here in reality.
Maybe it’s because the benevolence and generosity shown by Mr. Hooper—who upon seeing the sacrifices Ernie and Bert were making for each other felt moved to give back in kind—is exceptionally rare these days.
Whatever the reason, I adore this part of the movie. Watching it this year gave me a little boost of Christmas spirit when I really needed it.
The Big Bird True Blue Miracle Storyline
The show’s central narrative centers on Big Bird and one of the Sesame Street kids, Patty, trying to answer Oscar the Grouch’s question: “How does a guy like Santa Claus, who’s built like a dump truck, get down all those skinny chimneys?” Oscar adds that if Big Bird and Patty can’t find the answer, no one will get any presents for Christmas this year.
Big Bird and Patty task Grover and Kermit the Frog with the aforementioned research to find the answer, but they come up empty. Desperate to know, Big Bird decides he’ll go up to his apartment building’s roof to wait and ask Santa himself.
Meantime, the fake snowstorm on Sesame Street intensifies, and Patty discovers that Big Bird is missing. She goes to Gordon and Susan’s apartment where Gordon is consoling Cookie Monster over his inability to get a list to Santa in time. Patty tells them Big Bird is gone, and Gordon, Susan, and Cookie Monster enlist just about everyone on Sesame Street—including Oscar—to join in the search.
Meanwhile, up on the rooftop, Big Bird hears the commotion and looks down to see everyone running around. (“Hmm, someone must be lost,” he muses.) He waits and waits for Santa, but he ends up falling asleep.
A few seconds later, jingle bells sound and a shadow that looks suspiciously like a large man wearing a Santa hat falls on the snow and the sleeping Big Bird. But when he snaps awake, Big Bird sees no one. He thinks he heard something but sees no footprints in the rooftop snow. Deciding it was all a dream, and realizing he’s frozen his giblets, he goes back inside.
As he comes down the stairs, he runs into Gordon and Patty, who are overjoyed to see him. Big Bird tells them he’s only coming in for a minute then going back to the roof. Gordon says, "Um, no you're not," grabs him by the wing, and steers him into the apartment. There, Big Bird finds piles of presents under a beautifully decorated tree and stockings filled to the brim on the mantle. Santa, evidently, came to town.
Big Bird whines, “Now I’ll never know, I’ll never know how he did it.”
“Well, why do you want to know, Big Bird?”
“Because it’s important, Gordon!”
“That’s not what’s important,” Gordon replies. “What is important is that, well, we lost you tonight. We were all very, very worried about you. And now we’ve got you back, safe and sound. And we’re all together for Christmas.”
After Oscar teases Big Bird with another puzzle (“How does the Easter Bunny lay all those eggs in one night?”), Gordon and co. bring Big Bird downstairs where the whole of Sesame Street happily welcomes him back into the fold as the credits roll.
This storyline brings together many elements that are still so relevant nearly 50 years after this movie first came out: The questioning of faith. The fear of the unknown. The strength of community coming together. The inherent and immeasurable worth that each person brings to the world.
Things feel dark and foreboding on many levels right now. We don’t know what’s coming, and that’s an isolating, scary feeling. But we have to remember that we’re not alone. We have communities—our birth families or our chosen families, where we live or where we work, people we see in person or people we can only see via FaceTime—who not only care about us, but also need us.
Keep Christmas With You (All Through the Year)
Wow, OK—that got a little heavier than I intended. Please know that the movie ends on a funny note! After the credits, Gordon and Susan return home to find that Cookie Monster has eaten everything on the Christmas tree. “Scotch Pine delicious,” Cookie says, grimacing, “but Douglas fir give me heartburn. *burp* Excuse me.”
And that’s Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. Although I’ve showered you with spoilers in this post, it’s a very worthy watch (we bought it years ago on Amazon Prime, but I imagine it’s other places too, maybe?). The humor holds up, and if you’re a parent who once loved Sesame Street, it’s a kick to see how your kids interact with the “old” version of the show.
The movie will leave you with a beautiful song whose lyrics are worth tucking away for the weeks and months ahead—times when things may feel hopeless, and we need a reminder that there’s good in this world worth fighting for.
Christmas means the spirit of giving
Peace and joy to you
The goodness of loving
The gladness of living
These are Christmas too
So keep Christmas with you
All through the year
When Christmas is over
Save some Christmas cheer
These precious moments
Hold them very dear
And keep Christmas with you
All through the year.